Estate executors have a right to be paid reasonable fees for their services, but if they are not careful they can miss out and not get paid for the full value of what they do. Being the executor of an estate can be a difficult and time-consuming work, especially if the estate will have to [...]

If a deceased person still has outstanding student loans, the post-death status of those loans depends on what type of loan they are. A person would almost have to be living under a rock not to know someone with student loans and that millions of Americans owe more than a trillion dollars in unpaid student [...]

A London-based law firm is the latest plaintiff to sue the estate of Michael Jackson. It has been several years since Michael Jackson passed away, but his estate is still being sued by his creditors. The most recent case involves a U.K. law firm that claims it did legal work worth $200,000 for Jackson in [...]

On March 31, 2016 the first IRS Forms 8971 are due. These new forms which were designed as a way to close an estate tax loophole have caused some confusion for professionals and beneficiaries. The recently released guidance is not helping matters very much. On the surface the desire to close an estate tax loophole [...]

The IRS has again extended the deadline for executors to file the basis for property distributed from an estate as required by Section 6035 of the tax code. When President Obama signed the Surface Transportation and Veteran’s Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015 into law last July it contained a provision completely unrelated to [...]

Payable-on-death accounts offer a popular and easy way to avoid probate and transfer assets, but they are not without their problems. Payable-on-Death accounts, sometimes called Pay-on-Death or Transfer-on-Death, are increasingly popular with banks and brokerage firms. They offer an easy way to transfer assets after an account owner passes away. The money in the account [...]

Tax obligations do not disappear when a person passes away. Executors need to know what forms should be filled out. One of the most important, if not the single most important, thing executors must do is handle the taxes of the deceased and the estate. Not doing so properly can result in personal liability for [...]

Estate executors are entitled to reasonable fees for their work in administering estates. The fees requested by Leona Helmsley's executors test the definition of "reasonable." Leona Helmsley's estate has received lots of attention for the large amount of money she left for her dog, an amount that was later reduced by a judge. What most [...]

An estate case highlights how the Supreme Court's decision legalizing gay marriage will require interpretation of couples' relationship statuses before the ruling took effect. In 2002, Mauricio Leyton and his partner David Hunter had a commitment ceremony. This was a ceremony some homosexual couples used to signify their lifetime commitment when they were not allowed [...]

An estate case highlights how the Supreme Court's decision legalizing gay marriage will require interpretation of couples' relationship statuses before the ruling took effect. In 2002, Mauricio Leyton and his partner David Hunter had a commitment ceremony. This was a ceremony some homosexual couples used to signify their lifetime commitment when they were not allowed [...]